Lamp-wick and method of manufacture.



No. 638,247. Patented Dec. 54, |899.

J. W. HYATT.

LAMP WIC'K AND METHOD 0F MANUFAGTURE.

` (Appucmcn med um. 2o, 1899.) (No Modal.)

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lwrrnn Frarns JOHN WV. HYATT, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

LAMP-WICK AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,247, dated December 5, 18199.

Application filed March 2()I 1899. Serial No. 709,733. (No specimens.)

' a lamp-wick made of yarn by securing the yarns together with winding or wrapping the fibers in any manner which would be liable to obstruct the free movement of the oil within its capillary spaces. l/Vhere lamp-wicks have been formed by weaving or braiding the yarns together, the yarns are twisted or wrapped one over another, so as to exert considerable compression upon one another at the various points of crossing, and the free flow of the oil in such a lamp-wick is obstructed by the compression of the yarns, while it is also impeded by the numerous bends in each yarn, which increase the distance which the oil is required to travel to reach the top of the wick and compel the oil to move through a tortuous channel. In the present invention I obviate the compression of the yarns and secure a more direct channel for the passage of the oil by disposing the yarns parallel with one another inalayerand securing them together by cement applied at intervals only to one side of the layer. If the yarns were secured to a layer of iibrous material by cement over the whole surface of the'latter, the lamp-wick would be greatly stiened and the bers of the yarns would be more or less clogged by the mass of cement, and to avoid such result the yarn may be connected by a transverse thread coated with glue and drawn transversely across the layer at intervals, or they may be connected by a layer of thin porous fabric, like cotton cheese-cloth, with narrow strips of glue impressed upon such layer transversely at intervals to engage the contiguous surface of the yarns. I thus avoid the crossing, bending, or compressing of the yarns, and as each makes only a tangential contact with the cement-bearing surface the body of the yarn and most of its interior fibers remain unclogged by the cement, and thus furnish free channels for the passage of the oil. The fibrous material for carrying the cement mayconsist of thin woven fabric; but I have found by, experiment that a thread cemented transversely at intervals across the layer of parallel yarns is preferable, as it serves to hold them together with sufficient firmness, while it does not impair the ilexibility of the wick and does not tend to clog the fibers of the yarn with any considerable amount of cement. A two-ply fabric is readily constructed by leading the yarns for the two layers separately to a meeting-poi.nt,drawing a thread with moist cement alternately back and forth transversely across one of the layers at such meeting-point, and progressively feeding the two layers forward with such thread and cement pressed between the layers. A tubular fabric may be formed of two annular layers of parallel yarns having a spirally-disposed thread cemented between their contiguous surfaces, and such a fabric can be made with great rapidity by leading the yarn for such layers separately to an annular meeting-point, winding the thread with cement upon the inner layer adjacent to such meeting-point, and feeding the two layers progressively forward with the thread and cement pressed between them. When the layers are relieved from the pressure which is applied to cement them together, the fibers of each yarn are entirely freed from compression and no obstruction is offered to the free movement of the oil Within the wick.

My invention involves a new fabric and method of making the same, and Ido not, therefore, limit myself to the use of the product exclusively for the manufacture of lampwicks, but find that it can be employed in the manufacture of neckties and analogous articles.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure l is a side view of a portion of'a one'- ply fabric, and Fig. 2 an end view of the same.

Fig. 3 is an end View of a two-ply fabric, and Fig. 4f a perspective view of a piece of such fabric with the layers separated at one end to expose the connecting-thread. Fig. 5 is a cross-section of a tubular fabric. Fig. 6 is a diagram representing the method of manufacturing the two-ply fabric, and Fig. 7 is a longi tudinal section of an apparatus for manufacturing the tubular fabric. Fig. S shows a piece of a binding fabric with transverse strips of glue.

a a designate the parallel yarns upon one side of the fabric, and a d2 designate thelayers in which the yarns are disposed.

b designates the fibrous material cemented upon one side of the layerof yarns and which may consist of any material adapted, with the cement, to bind the yarns together.

In Fig. 2 a single layer a.' is shown, with the binding material i) cemented upon one side ofthe same, while Fig. 3 shows two layers a and a2 attached to opposite sides of the binding material b.

Fig. 4 shows the material I) as a thread disposed in Zigzagloops transversely between the layers d and a2, and thus operating with the cement to secure the two layers together at intervals. I find that a thread of No. sewing-cotton cemented between the two layers at intervals of one-sixth of an inch serves to hold them together with the utmost firmness, while it does not impair the .flexibility of the fabric or impede the movement of the oil through the same.

In Fig. 5 the two layers of yarns are arranged in tubular form with the binding ma terial l) cemented between them, and such annular fabric may be used for a tubular wick, or to make a single flat wick by pressing the sides of the tube together, or to make two or more dat wicks by slitting the tube into strips.

Fig. G shows in diagrammatic form the method of cementing two flat layers together by leading them from different directions between two rolls c and drawing the thread with moist cement back and forth either in contact with one of the layers or so close to their meeting point or line that the thread may adhere to the adjacent yarns as it is drawn back and forth across the same. The thread b is shown extended through the hopper d, containing liquid glue, and terminated at the bottom with a fine aperture to permit the thread to be drawn therefrom with a suitable charge of glue. Such hopper may be vibrated back and forth to draw the thread across the surface of the lower layer a', while both layers are fed continuously forward in the direction of the arrow e by the rotation of the rolls c.

In Fig. 7, which shows the means for cementing two annular layers of yarn together, f design ates a central Amandrel surrounded by atube g and provided at the rear end with a guide h, having holes to lead the yarns d between the mandrel and the tube. Rolls c are provided to draw away the finished product pressed fiat between the rolls, and a tube g is supported around the mandrel to press the outer layer of yarns upon the inner layer and to support a guide h' for leading the outer layer of yarns to an annular meeting-point or circle i. Between the tube g and such annular meeting-point a space is left to wrap the thread b around the inner layer of yarns, as indicated by the dotted lines 7c Z, which are extended from opposite sides of the mandrel f to indicate twofthreads wound simultaneously upon the forwardly-movingyarns,which cements the threads in parallel spirals at equal distances apart around the inner layer and serves effectually to secure the outer layer to the inner layer where both are passed through thetubeg. Thetubeisflattenedbytherollsc', which feed it forwardly, and the pressure of the rolls serves still further to bring the yarns into close contact with the cementdoearing thread l). The apparatus represented in Fig. 7 would be made of sufficient length and kept at such a temperature as to partly dry the cement upon the binding-thread before the fabric was compressed by the rolls c' or brought in contact with other substances, and the tube g' is represented broken on the drawings, as well as the newly-made fabric, for Want of room to express the required length. Such tubular wick may be used in circular form for Argand burners or may be slit longitudinally into any desired nu rnberof dat wicks, in which case the cemented threads are cut at each edge without applying the outer layer of yarns.'

Such construction would form a single-ply wick like that represented' in Figs. l and 2, where a designates the single layer of yarns, and b the parallel threads disposed spirally across the breadth of the fabric and cut at the edges of the same to form the iiat layer shown in Fig. 2. A great advantage is gained by securing yarns together by cement at intervals only, as it produces a much more flexible fabric and one in which the fibers are not perceptibly clogged with the cement, and these advantages may be attained by cement-- ing a layer of thin fibrous material, like cotton cheese-cloth, to one side of the yarns by narrow strips of cement disposed at intervals across the fabric. In Fig. 8, b designates such a piece of material, and b the narrow strips of cement impressed upon the material at intervals to engage the layer of yarns.

For then manufacture of lamp Wicks a loosely-twisted cotton yarn is employed; but in the manufacture of neckties or other articles cords of silk, linen, or any other required material may be employed and serve when secured together by cement upon their inner sides only to present an entirely novel ap-V pearance of disconnected cords, which cannot be produced by any other mode of manufacture.

I have found by experiment that a lamp-v wick made by the present invention will feed the oil to the flame with great freedom and is not so liable to be caked at the top or clogged internally as a woven or braided wick. As a result of the free movement of the oil through the wick the flame from such IOO IIO

a wick when employed in the same kind of lamp and with the same amount-and kind of oil is larger and capable of giving correspondingly more light than that produced by a braided or woven wick. v

Whether the cemented thread be exposed in an oblique manner, as shown in Fig. 1, a zigzag manner, as shown in Fig. t, or a spiral manner as shown in Fig. 7, a continuous series of transverse threads is attached to the yarns at regular intervals, thus securing the yarns together laterally, while they remain entirely disconnected between the transverse threads. `This mode of connection is particularly suitable for a lamp-wick whose fabric is not subjected to friction, wear, or tensile strain to any material 4extent and enables the fabric to serve the purposes of a lamp-wick in a very perfect manner, as the yarns are not sensibly clogged with cement or compressed by weaving or braiding.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimed herein isl. As a new article of manufacture, a fabric, for lamp-wicks, composed of a layer of parallel yarns having a continuous series of threads cemented at intervals to the yarns across one side of the layer, whereby the yarns are connected laterally at regular intervals and are wholly disconnected between the transverse threads.

2. As a new article 0f manufacture, afabric, for lamp-wicks, composed of a layer of parallel yarns having a continuous series of parallel threads cemented obliquely at intervals across one side of the layer, substantially as herein set forth.

3. As a newarticle of manufacture, a fabric composed of two layers of parallel yarns having their adjacent sides connected by an endless thread with cement thereon, disposed zigzag across the breadth of the fabric.

4. A tubular fabric for lamp-wicks and analogous articles, comprising two layers of parallel yarns having a spirally-disposed thread cemented to their contiguous surfaces.

JOHN W. HYATT.

Witnesses:

L. LEE, THOMAS S. CRANE. 

